How Your WhatsApp Connects
Spun links to WhatsApp as a linked device, the same way WhatsApp Web does. Your phone stays in control, and you can disconnect the linked device from your phone at any time. This page explains what happens between opening the connect screen and seeing Connected!, and where your WhatsApp session reaches WhatsApp from afterwards.
For the step-by-step instructions, see Connecting WhatsApp.
Where a session connects from
A linked WhatsApp session runs on Spun's WhatsApp gateway and reaches WhatsApp from some internet address. Spun uses one of three routes:
| Route | When it is used | Where WhatsApp sees the session coming from |
|---|---|---|
| A Spun connection in your country | New connections, where the gateway has a regional connection in the country you confirmed | A connection of Spun's WhatsApp gateway in that country, kept for your line alone |
| A temporary connection in your country | New connections, where there is no Spun connection in the country you confirmed | A residential internet address in that country |
| Your own computer (Self Proxy) | Never the default; always one tap away, now or later | Your own home or office internet line |
The Spun connection and the temporary connection together are called the managed connection. Spun never links a number straight from a server's data centre address. If none of the managed routes is available for your country, the connect screen tells you so instead of showing a QR code.
Media does not travel through the connection
Only the WhatsApp session itself (messages, receipts, presence) goes through the route above. Media such as photos, videos, voice notes and documents is downloaded and uploaded between Spun's WhatsApp gateway and WhatsApp directly. It does not pass through a Spun connection, a temporary connection or your own computer, so Self Proxy does not use your internet line for media.
The first connection, step by step
- Country. The screen suggests a country based on where you are signing in. It should be the country where you normally use WhatsApp, so if you are on a VPN or travelling, press Change and pick the right one.
- Confirm. Pressing Continue to QR saves that country as your organisation's connection country. Spun then prepares a Spun connection in that country or, where there is none, a temporary connection there. While it prepares a Spun connection the screen says so, usually for under a minute.
- QR code. The QR code only appears once the connection is ready. A small line above it shows Connecting from your country, or Temporary connection from your country, with a Change link. On a temporary connection, a card under the QR asks Want a connection that never changes? with Use my computer; you can scan now and switch later. Scan the code from WhatsApp on your phone (Linked Devices → Link a Device).
- Connected. New messages arrive right away. Older chats come in over the next few hours.
The country can only be changed before you scan. After linking it is shown for information only (Country is set when you connect.); to use a different country, the line has to be disconnected and linked again.
If there is no managed connection in your country yet, you see "We can't connect from this country just yet" with three choices: Use my computer (Self Proxy), Choose another country if the country was wrong, or Contact us.
Checks behind the managed connection
The Spun connection is part of Spun's WhatsApp gateway service. The temporary connection's residential addresses come from a third-party proxy network. Both are listed on our sub-processor page. The traffic either route carries is WhatsApp's own encrypted connection; the provider sees the connection metadata needed to carry it, not readable message content.
While your line is on a temporary connection, Spun regularly records where the connection actually exits: the country and the type of network it comes from. If a check shows a connection leaving from the wrong country, or not going through the managed connection at all, Spun pauses new temporary connections in that country while the team looks into it. During such a pause the connect screen may be unable to show a QR code for a while. These checks are supporting evidence that the connection behaves as configured; they are not a guarantee from WhatsApp, and WhatsApp does not publish how it weighs where a connection comes from.
Moving to Self Proxy later
Self Proxy is optional. You can choose it at any point:
- under the QR code, with Set that up instead, or with Use my computer on a temporary connection;
- after connecting, with Set it up on the Run your connection from your computer card in Settings → WhatsApp → Health (admins only);
- from the Current connection card in the same settings, which shows whether you are on a Spun connection or a temporary connection;
- from the one-time banner that may appear after your chats finish syncing (Your chats are in. Ready to make the connection permanent?);
- from the one email the account owner may receive a few days after the first connection.
Your current connection stays active while you install. Once your computer is ready, you switch with Switch now; the WhatsApp connection pauses for about a minute and, rarely, you may need to scan the code again. From a Spun connection the switch may still show Coming soon while that step is being rolled out; from a temporary connection it is available now. See the Self Proxy guide for the setup itself.
The move is one way. There is no button for going back from your computer to the managed connection, and Spun never moves a line between the Spun connection and a temporary connection on its own. Contact support if you need to move back.
What Spun never does on its own
- It never links a number from a plain data centre address.
- It never moves an organisation that uses Self Proxy onto the managed connection. If every Self Proxy computer is offline, WhatsApp waits until one comes back.
- It never swaps a connected line to a different route behind your back. Changing route is always something you choose.
Related
- Connecting WhatsApp - the steps on screen
- Self Proxy - running the connection from your own computer
- How Spun Works - the wider system overview